Card index



erator, so as to leave a space about as indicated at A in Fig. 6. This is possible, of course, due to the fact that the partitions 7 are not necessarily crowded or jammed tightly against each other, so that the combined slack of a number of the partitions will allow them to be forced into their positions as shown in Fig. 6.

10 indicates a plate upon one of whose ends is a finger piece 11, the plate being slidably mounted within a slotted block 12 slidable in a slotted way 12' formed in the front of the tray. The block 12, has outwardly extending projections 13, through which pass rods 14, the ends of the rods being passed through the side walls 1, and being rigid with the side walls, so that the block 12 may be free to move from side to side of the box, carrying the plate 10 with it. During this movement the rear end of the plate 10 of course will lag behind the forward end of the plate, due to the unavoidable play of the plate in its slotted block 12, with the result that the plate becomes out of parallelism with any row of projections 6. However, when the plate 10 is drawn toward ,the left as seen in Fig. 1 this movement will bring the plate 10 into approximate parallelism with any row of projections 6. To exactly align the plate 10, however, I provide combsl whose ends are secured to the sides of the box by screws 17, (see Figs. 1 and 2). The lower ends 18 of the teeth of the combs are chamfered as shown plainly in Fig. 1. 19 is a blade which is connected to the plate 10 by means of links 20 and springs 21. When the plate 10 is operated it will almost align itself with any row of projections 6 and when the end of the blade 19 Contacts with the front wall of the box it will begin to rise and strike one of the chamfered teeth 16 which will force the blade 19 ment so that little or no tendency of the blade 19 to bend any of the projections 6 occurs. The result of this is that when the blade 19 is cause-d to rise it will contact with no other row of projectons 6 than the one selected and i will cause the corresponding cards of that row to rise above all the other cards as seen in Fig. l so that the mai-kinge upon the upper edges of the raised cards will all be in plain View, and any particular one of them may be raised still' further or entirely removed, as desired. i i i From the foregoing it is plain that ordinary cards of average commercial thickness can be cut in large quantities, having projections 6, andthat the projection has only to withstand the weight of its card because of the' fact that each card is relieved of friction against it of any other cards. It will further ;5 .be seen that the cards willalso stand in a vertical position when' inserted into the contain-` er regardless of the number of cards, because one card does not support another, as would be the case if it were not for the parttons 7.

"Without the partitions 7 the cards would obi crunple or bend. Even if the cards were of great thickness or remforced upon their edges with metal or the like, giving a more rigid projection 6, no one card could readily be forced upwardly, as seen in Fig. 1, unless the container were full of cards, because the Upward thrust upon the prej ection 6 would be in a vertical plane and the cards would be in an oblique plane. The net advantage therefore, of my invention is that thin cards may be cut out with the projection integral with the cards and the main purposes of the inventicn readily accomplished.

indicates a plate having a projection 23-' and vertical slots 2%. screws 25 project inwardly from the front wall 1 and extend through the slots 2% so that the plate 22 has a vertical movement. The bottom edge of the plate at all times contacts with the blade- 19 so that when the parts are operated, as seen in Fig. e, the plate is caused toi-iee into its position as seen in that figure. A link 26 has one of its ends pivotally connected at 27 to a bale 28, and its opposite end slotted as seen inFig. 1, and thru the slot projects a pin 29 wnich extends from the plate 22. The bale 28 is thus returned to a .normal position in the downward movement of plate 22through the link 26. The bale 28 is pivoted to the container at its ends at 30 so that when the plate 22 rises the projection 23 Contacts with the under surface of the bale and moves it about its pivots 30 nto its position as plainly seen in Figs. 4: and 5.

By reference to Fig. 2 it will be seen that the bottom of the projection 6 of the card is normally in spaced relatio-n with respect to the upper edge of the blade 19 so that when the parts are operated the bale 28 will be moved about its center 30 before the blade 19 Contacts with any of the projections 6, so that none of the projections 6 have to withstand the weight of the bale. When the finger piece 11 is released by the operator the springs 21 of course will cause the return of the plate 10 toits position as seen in Fig. 2, allowing the plate 22 to return to normal as well as the bale 28, thus returning all the up-raised cards from their positions as seen in Fig. t to their normal positions as indicated in Fig. 2. If the card 5 did not become slightly warped in use the cards of course would always return of their own weight from their raised positions to their normal positions, but due to the fact lil-l lil) amanet that a very little warpng of' any card will produce suflicient friction against the partitions 7 to prevent the'retu-rn of the card by its own` weight, therefore the bale 28 is an essential feature because it insures the return of all cards to normal whenever the finger piece 11 i s released.

The container is preferably deeper than: it is wide so that an upward thrust upon the projections 6 of the cards at the extreme right or left edges of the cards, will result in an upward movement of all the cards of that series, and with the additional result that the bale 28 need not contact with but a relatively slight portion of the edges of the cards, as shown in Fig. 5, as will be understood. 31 is a pointer of spring material seen-red at Sl to the block 12 and its free end is' provided with a knob 32 which is adapted to spring into and seat itself into one of the holes 33 in a bar 34, Secured to the front wall l. Each of the holes is appropriately numbered a, b, c, d, etc., as shown in Fig. 1. i

Assuming that the device is empty of cards and that a new account is to be opened with Smith; a card marked S is selected from a group of cards and the name Smith written across its upper edge and other necessary data below it, as usual, and the card inserted between any of the partitions 7 regardless of the value of the card. As this occurs from time to time a number of the cards of varying characteristics of course will accumulate within the device. At any time afterwards, if it is desired to consult a card containing the account of Smith, the operator moves the finger piece 11 sidewise until the pointer 31 is in alignment with the letter S and then draws the finger piece 11 toward him, which will of course cause the card containing the Smith account to be raised above all of the other cards and into plain View, as well as all other cards marked S, whercupon the desired card may be raised sufficiently to eXpose the data required or may be entirely removed. The elastic capacity of the device will thus be seen because new cards can be inserted in the device as long as there is any space open between the partitions 7 v It will, of course be apparent from the above description that the cards need not be filed in the container in any particular order or with any regard whatever to the individual characteristics of the cards. That is to say, the cards may be filed in indiscriminate order, that is, in a shufiied condition, as the selective means will properly cooperate with the cards of similar characteristics no matter what their order or relation may be in the container.

While I have shown a particular form of embodiment of my invention, I am aware that many minor changes therein will readily suggest themselves to others skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of my inventionl 'I therefore desi re to avoid being limited to the exactform of embodiment which I have herein shown and described. Having described my nvention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent, is i 1. In a device of the class described, the combination of a container adapted to receive a plurality of cards of varying characteristics, means forreleving any one card from contact with any adjacent card, said means consisting of partitions in spaced relation with respect to each other, a projection on each card according to its characteristics, and selecti've means for separating any one o' the cards of predetermined characteristics from the other cards, including a cardlitting member adapted to be moved into the plane of the projection upon any of the cards.

2. In a device of the class described, the

combination of a container adapted to receive e a plurality ofcards of varying characteristics, means for relieving any one card from' contact with-any adjacei t card and selective means for separating any of the cards of predetermined characteristics from the other cards,`

and means for returning the separated card into alignment with the other cards.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of a container adapted to receive a plurality of cards of varying characteristics, ;means for relieving any one card from contact with any adjacent card and selective means' for separating any of the cards of predetermined characte'ristics from the other cards, and a bale for returning the separated card into alignmentwith the other cards.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination of' a container adapted to receive a plurality of cards of varying char-' acteristics, of means for preserving any one of the cards in a substantially vertical position and'for relieving it of contact with any adjacent card, means for raising cards of similar predetermined characteristics out of alignment with the other cards. and means for restoring the'raised cards to their original positions. y

5. In an article of the class described, the combination of a container, movable partitions within the container and' means for maintaining the partitions in spaced relation to each other whereby a. card may be passed between any two of the partitions, means for arresting all of the cards so 'that their edges are in alignment with each other, means for moving a card of predetermined characteristics out of alignment 'with the other cards, said means including a projection on each card accoraiing to its characteristics, and a card-raising member adapted to contact with 'the projection, and a card-restoring` member.

G. In :1. device of the class described, the combinati'on of a container adapted to receive' a number of groups of cards stackcd edgewise within the container, each group having different characterstics from the other groups,means for separating each card from contact with any other card and for holding the card in a substantially vertical position, means for selectively raising any group of cards of similar characteristics above the remaining cards whereby any card may be withdrawn from the stack without frictional contact with its adjacent cards.

,7. In a device of the class described, the combination of a' container adapted to receive a plurality of groups of cards, any card of each group having diferent characteristics 'rom a card of any other group, partitions movably mounted within the container and spaced apart from each other so that any card may be passed between any two of the partitions, uniform projections upon all the cards of each group which are out of alignment with similar projections upon the cards of the other groups, means for separating all the cards of any group from the'cther cards, said means including a member movable into alignment with the projections upon any selected group and adapted to be moved into contact with those projections to move the cards of the selected group out of alignment with the other cards. 8.111 a device of the class described, the comhination of a container adapted to receive a plurality of groups of cards, any card of each group having different characteristics from acard of any other group, partitions movably mounted within the container and spaced apart from each other so that any card may be passed between any two of the partitions, uniform projections upon all the cards of each group which are out of alignment with similar projections upon the cards of the other groups, means for separating all the cards of any group from the other cards, said means including a member movable into alignment with the projections uponany selected group and adaptedto be moved into contact with those projections to move the cards of the selected group out of alignment with the other cards and means for autonatically restoring the separated cards to their normal positions.

9. In an article of the class described, the combination of a container adapted to receive a plurality of groups of cards of varying group characteristics, means for separating each card from contact with any adjacent card, means for moving any group of cards out ot alignment with the other cards, said means including a projection differing in position upon each card according to its characteristics, a blacle adapted to engage with the projections of any group of cards and means for aligning the blade with all the said projections of any group including a block slidable upon the contaner and having a slot through which the blade is slidable.

` 10. In an articleof the class described, the combination of a container adapted to receive a plurality of groups of cards of varying group characteristics, means :for separating each card from contact with ,any adjacent card, means for moving the cards of similar group characteristic out of alignment with the other cards, said means including a cardactuating member, movable in the container, and means for determining a predetermined line of movement of the member to insure its cooperation with the selected cards.

11. In an article of the class described, the combination of a container adapted to receive a plurality of groups of cards of varying group characteristics, means for relieving all the cards from contact with. each other and means for projecting any selected group beyond a limit plane of all the other groups.

12. In an article of the class described, the combination of a container, adapted to receive a plurality of groups of cards of varying group characteristics, means for relieving all the cards `from contact with each other, means for projecting any selected group beyond a limit plane of all theother groups, and means for returning the cards of the projected group to their normal positions.

13. In an article of the class described, the combination of a container, movable partitions arranged transversely of the container, means for spacing the partitions with respect to each other so as to admit the insertion of a card between any pair thereot, thumb pieces upon the partitions, and means for holding the cards so that. their upper edges are in alignment with the upper edges of the thumb pieces. i u

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

` FREDERICK P. GORIN. 

